US BlackBerry Storm launch rushed

RIM has admitted they made the deadline for the launch of the BlackBerry Storm in the US "by the skin of their teeth", according to the company's co-chief executive Jim Balsillie.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting on problems with Verizon's BlackBerry Storm following reports of technical bugs and glitches with RIM's first touchscreen phone.

Citing "people familiar with the matter" Verizon, who has the exclusive in the US as Vodafone does in the UK, is said to have sold around 500,000 units in the first month.

Complaints with the phone have included "clunky software for typing on the touchscreen" and "sluggish performance with basic tasks like dialing-by-voice or taking photographs".

The WSJ says: "Verizon and RIM, determined to release the Storm in time for the holidays, rushed the device to market despite glitches in the stability of the phone's operating system, according to people close to the launch".

Balsillie also said such "scrambles" and the "subsequent software glitches" are part of the "new reality" of making complex cellphones in large volumes.

With one software update issued in December, another update has been leaked on the web, but there's no official word when this will be released.